Lafayette College to study Easton, Phillipsburg downtowns

Grant will pay for look into traffic, potential riverfront development.

October 26, 2004|By Steve Esack Of The Morning Call

Easton and Phillipsburg are connected by two bridges that span the Delaware River. For decades the two river communities have operated independently of each other, seeing the river as a barrier.

But now Lafayette College hopes to change that with a study that links the successes or failures of both communities with the ornate bridge that connects their downtowns. The college's Technology Clinic, which has worked with Hugh Moore Park and the Bachmann Publick House in Easton, has received a $15,000 grant to study traffic patterns and potential riverfront development, from Easton's Centre Square to Phillipsburg's Union Square, about four city blocks.

"It's a square-to-square project," said Phillipsburg Mayor Harry Wyant. "It's very difficult to get people to move between these two points."

The cost of the $15,000 "Easton-Phillipsburg Riverscape Planning Project" is expected to be split evenly among the city, the town and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, which owns and operates the Northampton Street free bridge that connects the two squares.

However, Miriam Huertas, Easton's director of planning and economic development, said she is not sure if the city's share has been allocated yet. She said she recommended it to Mayor Phil Mitman, who will be away until Wednesday.

Dan Bauer, the clinic's program director, could not be reached.

According to a copy of the plan, Bauer hopes to use the college faculty's expertise to guide students in a two-semester project that will pursue real-life answers to revitalization. The proposal lists the construction of a crew stand or large river festival as examples of how to join Easton's and Phillipsburg's economies and futures.

"We see this as a time when the cities of Phillipsburg and Easton have a unique opportunity to work together for mutual benefit," Bauer's proposal to the commission states. "After periods of decline, both cities are witnessing a renaissance. The cities are divided by a state line but united by an historic bridge and an interest in making use of riverfront which has seen too little use since the 1955 flood."

The project is looking at the free bridge as a link to Easton's and Phillipsburg's economies and revitalization work, much like the commission's more southern New Hope-Lambertville bridge connects the tourist communities in Bucks and Mercer counties.

Linda Spalinski, bridge commission spokeswoman, said the bistate agency agreed to participate because its bridge, which was refurbished in 2002, is the major artery to the two communities' downtowns. The commission's $5,000 is being paid out of its reserve fund for research and development. It is not coming from the commission's $40 million economic development fund, which Govs. Ed Rendell and James McGreevey allowed the commission to retain last year when they slashed a $248 million economic development fund and cut toll rates.

"From our perspective, it has more of a transportation focus to it," she said.

Wyant said in his 13 years in public office as mayor and councilman he does not remember Easton or Phillipsburg conducting a joint study to link their economies. "There was always a lot of talk, though," he said. He added Phillipsburg's share will be minuscule compared with the amount of money it would cost the town to hire its own consultants, who hold the same degrees and expertise as Lafayette's professors.

Huertas said it is important for the two communities to focus jointly on the river, but she cautioned that it may not lead to a realistic plan.